The Winter Ball
by InspiredByWords
Summary: Albus Dumbledore has a little plan to make sure his renowned Potions professor has a Christmas that he will remember. A little Christmas story which was playing on my mind that I decided to write - review!


Disclaimer: Anything you recognise isn't mine.

The Winter Ball

**A/N: So I got pretty bored tonight and it's two days before Christmas and there's not much to do around here since all my shopping and wrapping is done, so I thought I'd write a one-shot. I'm going to try and make it reasonably long and set it as a challenge for myself to get it over 2,000 words! I know the idea is soooo overused (especially around Christmas time) but I feel like writing it, so I hope you all don't mind and I hope that you enjoy this! Reviews would be greatly appreciated! Character's thoughts will go into italics. For this story I decided to put Ginny into seventh year too, so shush :P**

It was the last Hogsmeade weekend before the Winter Ball was to take place and Dumbledore had announced some changes to the usual plans – only seventh years were permitted to attend if they so wished (causing a lot of jealousy from the lower years of the school), and it happened to be that this year the majority of the year was to attend. It was due to be a fantastic evening for all, and since they were all legally of age they were also Many students had already purchased their dress robes and dress well in advance but surprisingly, Hermione Granger hadn't so that weekend was assigned to finding the perfect dress for her to wear.She wasn't planning on going with a date, her and Ron were never going to work out – she wouldn't allow herself to be in a relationship with somebody who would much rather be talking about the latest signing at Chudley Cannons than the most recent article in Potions Monthly.

As Hermione pushed open the door into Madam Malkin's (a new branch had recently opened in Hogsmeade after popular demand) there was a slight jingle which alerted the staff of her presence. A young lady came rushing over, "Hello there and welcome to Madam Malkin's. How may I be of service?"

"Well you might already know that it's the Winter Ball at Hogwarts," the lady nodded vigorously, "and I'm looking for a dress," Hermione replied while scanning the room for anything that caught her eye.

"Okay, well we will definitely find something for you today. Is there any certain style you are looking for?"

"Umm, no not particularly; I don't want a huge frilly dress though. Something subtle that will stun them," she replied, trying to conjure up a mental image of what kind of dress she really wanted to be seen in.

"If you'd like to browse our selection and let me know if anything catches your eye. You are more than welcome to try on anything you see," and with that, the lady left Hermione but she felt as though she was being watched (which she most certainly was.)

It had taken over half an hour of sifting through the racks and holding dresses up to her body to examine her appearance in one of the many full-length mirrors which were dotted around the shop before she found the right one. She hadn't even considered trying on any of the others which had drawn her eye, but this one seemed right for her. She headed off to the dressing room with the assistant hot on her heels and changed. As she slipped into the dress, it felt perfect and when she drew the curtain of the fitting room back, the assistant gasped. Hermione was a little startled at this, wondering if something was wrong but as she turned to face the mirror she hardly recognised who she was. "Wow..." she breathed it was truly perfect. It was subtle, exactly how she had wanted it to be but it was also rather daring by her standards so she would shock many people there. It clung to her in all the right places and flowed right down to the floor. For one of the first times since she had been at Hogwarts, she felt beautiful. "I'll take it," she said without a moment's hesitation.

"Are you sure you don't want any alterations or anything, Miss?" the assistant questioned, looking quite shocked at Hermione's rash decision but at the same time looking rather pleased that they had a sale.

"No thank you it is perfect as it is, and can I take these shoes too?" she replied while plucking a pair of heels from the shoe display as she followed the assistant over to the counter where she was to pay.

A little while after the lady had calculated the price of Hermione's purchase, Hermione handed over the required amount before bidding them goodbye and heading to The Three Broomsticks to meet up with Ginny. As she walked towards her destination, she saw many other students milling around with great big smiles on their faces, some with bags of shopping (presumably Christmas presents for their family and friends) and some just window shopping and having a fun day away from the castle.

Hermione pushed open the door into the pub and realised it was rather crowdy, she headed to a corner table and placed her bags down on the seat next to her before leaning her head back with a sigh. Shopping was usually extremely tiring for Hermione, and although she had found exactly what she wanted this time round it still exhausted her. She scanned the room to see if her red-haired friend had arrived yet but clearly not. In the opposite corner of the room she spotted none other than Professor Snape. She was surprised, to say the least, as she would have thought The Hog's Head would have been more to Snape's preference compared to the bustling pub he was in now. He kept his head down and his hands clasped around what looked like a bottle of Firewhiskey. She found it rather funny that a teacher would be drinking while out accompanying a party of students, but who was she to judge?

Although Hermione tried to move her eyes from the dark figure lurking in the depths of the pub but each time she tried to avert her eyes she was drawn back to him. Not once did he look around at his surroundings but she knew he was aware of everything that was going on. Did he know she was watching him?

SSHG

Severus finally raised his eyes as the pub began to quiet down, he suspected that many of the pupils that had been in earlier would be beginning the short trek back up to the castle before curfew. He observed the few that were left and his eyes settled upon Hermione Granger, the little know-it-all. She wasn't exactly little any more though, she had grown into her body and was beautiful. _Beautiful, what the hell Severus? She's your STUDENT, _he told himself. He watched her as she sat in the booth in the corner and she looked exhausted. Severus wondered who it was she was waiting for, but soon enough his question was answered as the only female Weasley walked through the door and headed over to Hermione with a huge grin on her face. Severus strained to hear the conversation but even the best trained spies would not be able to listen to a conversation going on in a heaving pub from the other side of the room.

"Hey Gin, talk about fashionably late!" exclaimed Hermione, relieved that her friend was finally here as she had noticed her professor watching her from the other side of the room.

"Sorry Herms, got a bit held up with Harry," she giggled and Hermione grimaced.

"Spare me the details! What do you want to drink?" she asked, finally enjoying the company of somebody.

"Just a butterbeer for me please," said Ginny, waving for Madam Rosmerta.

"Yes girlies?"

"Butterbeer please," requested Ginny. While Ginny was conversing with Madam Rosmerta, Hermione could not help but notice Professor Snape leave the pub – _it's not as though you could miss his black robes billowing around, _she thought while grinning to herself. "What's so funny?" asked Ginny.

"Oh nothing," said Hermione, brought back to the real world by Ginny's questioning gaze. Ginny did not believe her, and had managed to follow her friend's gaze to the black figure leaving through the door. _Snape? _

"Anyway, did you get the dress?" Ginny squealed excitedly, earning some glares from people in the tables nearby.

"Shhh! And yes, it's absolutely perfect but it's a surprise." Hermione was determined to wow as many people as she could next week, _maybe even Professor Snape...God where did that thought come from? Why would I want to wow Severus Snape, the grumpy git of the dungeons? Will he even be there? _She was broken from her thoughts once again by her friend, this time by a click of the fingers in front of her face.

SSHG

It had been a long final week of studies at Hogwarts, everybody was excited to leave for the Christmas break and even the teachers seemed restless. There was a certain buzz about the seventh year and everybody knew it was down to the Winter Ball which was to occur on Friday evening.

SSHG

Hermione sat on her bed in the girls dormitory suddenly doubting her decision to attend the ball. She was extremely nervous and now that the time had come for her to prove she was not just a bookworm, she wanted to back out but she wouldn't let herself. She had spent her money on the dress and had to see this through. All of the other girls had been chattering in the rooms for hours, after being given the day off timetable in order to prepare – Dumbledore had backed up his choice in giving the seventh years a day of timetable by saying lessons would be a waste of everybody's time since they would certainly not be focused on their school work.

Ginny bounded up the staircase with a huge grin on her face, "Come on Herms, you're going to look beautiful!" she said while pulling her to her feet and shaking her body. Hermione let out a sigh before shooing her away so she could prepare alone.

As Hermione descended the staircase from the girl's dormitories, the room went silent as everybody in the room turned to see who had just descended. A blush crept onto her cheeks as she realised all of the attention was on her, _I knew I should've just pulled a sicky, _she thought.

"Wow Hermione you look HOT!" said Ron while grinning sheepishly at her. She grimaced, she hated that word; it made her feel like a bimbo, not a beautiful young woman...She heard someone wolf whistle from somewhere in the room but could not decipher who it was.

The group of Gryffindor's finally headed down to the Great Hall together, all wondering what the evening would have in store. Once they reached the marble staircase the group was able to hear the sound of music coming from the Great Hall, and they quietened considerably on their approach. Hermione held back for a while, sitting on the marble staircase for a while to compose herself. _It will be fine Hermione, you look great,_ she told herself but had problems believing herself.

She finally mustered up enough courage and strode over to the large doors, pausing slightly before holding her head up high and walking in. As she entered, she swore everybody turned to watch her entrance, _second bloody time tonight..._ she spotted Harry, Ginny, Ron and Lavender over in the corner of the Great Hall chatting and Ginny waved her over. While progressing towards her friends people kept stopping her to tell her how good she looked and by the time she had reached her friends her cheeks were crimson. She hadn't realised she would make such an impression.

Once Hermione had gotten herself accustomed to the atmosphere of the room, she gave herself a chance to look around the hall. It was beautifully decorated, _Christmas must be Dumbledore's favourite time of year because he always goes all out, _she thought. She also managed to get glimpses of what others were wearing as they all danced together in the hall. The band which was playing was the Weird Sisters, a popular band in the Wizarding World. Most of the teacher's were also present and 'stationed' around the hall, presumably to make sure any students who were to get a little over intoxicated would be given a sober-up potion before being allowed to return to the celebrations. The only teacher she was unable to place was Professor Snape, but after a bit more searching she found him skulking in the darkest corner of the room.

To her surprise, he was not wearing his usual teaching robes but looked somewhat casual in comparison. He still dressed in black, but wore a pair of black trousers with a black shirt. Her jaw nearly hit the floor when she realised what he was wearing was rather...slim fitting and showed off his toned body perfectly. She had always suspected he would have a rather tone body underneath the billowing robes he usually wore, but never thought it would be so good. _For God's sake Hermione he's your professor! s_he mentally scolded herself for practically drooling over her Potions Professor, who before tonight she had (mostly) thought of him as a greasy git who was a miserable sod.

Little did she know, he had seen her entrance and was among the many who had stopped in their tracks to watch her enter the hall. She did look beautiful, he could not deny that. He almost laughed out loud at her choice of colour though, _how typically Gryffindor. _She seemed rather unsure of herself, he noted. A long way from the headstrong girl he knew in the classroom, and he wondered why she seemed so nervous – she looked beautiful and was clearly no longer the girl who had entered his classroom at the age of 11. She was now a young woman.

Throughout the ball, unbeknownst to the other, they stole glances at the other. Hermione was truly amazed at how well he managed to brush up and Severus, well Severus was just amazed. Hermione had told herself she would not dance much and had stayed on the outskirts of the floor for the beginning of the evening but had eventually been coerced by none other than Ginevra Weasley into the centre of the dance floor and was dancing to her heart's content when suddenly she felt somebody grasp her arm.

"Miss Granger," she heard him say and she knew who was behind the voice without needed to look up into his eyes. She almost swooned, his voice made the majority of the female population of Hogwarts go crazy; she wondered whether he was aware of the effects his voice had. Before she could respond, he had pulled her away from the main crowd and stared down at her. She couldn't understand why on earth he had done this, but he had and now she looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. _God I'm such a lightweight, _she thought and giggled at her revelation. "Something the matter Miss Granger?" he inquired after hearing her slight giggle.

"N-no Professor, it's just...I realised how much of a lightweight I am," she replied, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Come with me then," and with that he grabbed her hand with a gentleness she had not expected from the Professor and he took her out and requested she sat down on the marble staircase. She did as she was told, because even under the influence of alcohol she knew not to push a teacher's limits. "Drink this please," he asked as he produced a vial of sober-up potion. She obliged and felt it tingle as it went down her throat. She sat for a little while allowing the potion to do it's work and she did not realise as her professor took a seat next to her on the steps. It was a rather awkward silence, and neither knew what to say in order to break it. _Why the hell did you sit down Severus! _he was mentally punishing himself, knowing that if he had not sat down then they would not be in such an awkward situation.

Finally, Hermione plucked up the courage to speak. "...Enjoying yourself sir?", he did not reply at first, only raised an eyebrow as if to say 'What do you think?'

"Hardly, Miss Granger."

"Oh." she replied.

"Are you?" he asked, which shocked her as she had not expected him to ask her the same question back and now did not know what to say. Of course she was enjoying herself but at the same time was feeling left out a little as she had not brought a partner so during most dances she was just around her friends as they all danced together. It made her slightly embarrassed.

"It's...yes it's good thanks," she told him but it didn't look as if she had managed to fool him.

"Best be getting back inside then? I'm sure your friends wouldn't take too kindly to believing you had been kidnapped by none other than myself," and with that he stood up and offered his hand to help her to her feet. It was such a simple gesture but Hermione felt speechless once again by his simple kindness towards her. She accepted it and as she did she felt a slight tingle run up her arm. _Must just be from the cold, _they both thought, almost simultaneously.

They heard the music die down slightly as they walked towards the doors together, and just as they were entering the hall they heard the lead singer of the Weird Sisters make an announcement, "Time to slow it down for a bit folks, so grab a partner and take to the floor". They began to play a tune which not many of the people in the hall had actually heard, but surprisingly both Hermione and Severus knew it.

"Oh I love this song!" exclaimed Hermione, earning a raised eyebrow from Severus. He was not going to admit to her that he was also fond of this song, but instead did something extremely absurd.

"Would you like to dance, Miss Granger?"

"Only if you call me Hermione," she replied.

"I'm sure that is...feasible. And you may call me Severus," with that, he took a hold of her hand and led her to the dance floor. Many students (and teachers who had taken to the floor) parted to allow space for Hermione and Severus. Hermione felt a little awkward about dancing with her professor, and was sure everybody was watching them. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and then placed his right hand on her left hip and took her right hand up in his left as they began to sway in time with the music.

He bent down to whisper into her ear, "I'm enjoying myself now."

"So am I," she whispered back, and gave him a little smile which he returned. She hadn't ever seen him smile before, but when he did she thought he looked a lot younger (which was definitely a good thing).

A whole song had passed in comfortable silence. At feeling Severus' hands on her waist, it send electric jolts through her body and she craved more. Severus was also suffering similar effects, wanting nothing more than to kiss her there and then but that would be extremely frowned upon, even if she was of legal age.

The first song soon flowed into the next and then the next and the gradually, there was less people on the floor dancing but Severus and Hermione remained though after a few songs he had both of his hands on her waist and she had her arms wrapped around his neck and her head was rested on his chest. This seemed such a comfortable position for both as they swayed in time to the beat and Hermione was able to hear his heart beat. They certainly didn't want to be disturbed, but trust Ronald Weasley to ruin a moment.

He cleared his throat breaking them both from their daze, "Erm, sorry professor but I think you've had your fair share of Hermione tonight," he said, avoiding eye contact. Hermione just scowled at him, _why wasn't he off eating Lavender's face or something?_ She heard Severus sigh and step away.

"Meet me by the lake in 20 minutes," he whispered into her ear before departing. She watched him leave the Great Hall and was now filled with great excitement and would do anything for the next twenty minutes to be over with as soon as possible.

"So..." said Ron, trying his best to make conversation out of the awkward silence as they danced. It was nothing like when she had danced with Severus, he was clumsy and wasn't even capable of swaying in time to the music. Twenty minutes seemed to drag by, but as soon as she knew it was time for her to leave she bid her goodnight to her friends, apologised profusely to Ron who had a face like a smacked arse since she was leaving him. He watched her leave angrily, he had been turned down by Lavender and Hermione tonight.

SSHG

It was cold that winter night, but Hermione was only bothered about reaching the lake to see Severus. Something inside her twinged at the thought of him, and soon she was able to see a dark figure sitting against a tree by the lake. She noticed the figure turn towards her and he stood to greet her.

"Hi," he said, sounding like a teenage boy but it was the best greeting he could muster up as he saw her walk along the frosty ground towards him. He was so glad she had decided to come and meet him, and he enveloped her in a strong hug. She melted into his warmth, but just as quickly as the embrace had begun, it ended. "Follow me," he said. They were going nowhere in particular, he just wanted to walk with her and talk with her.

After a while of aimlessly walking around, he turned to face her. "Are you cold?" he asked, and she nodded, rather embarrassed about being cold. _Why is she embarrassed about being cold, _he thought. _Silly girl._ He pulled her into a tight embrace once again in an attempt to warm her up and guard her from the cold winter's air and then he pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes, "Warm now?"

"Maybe," she smiled as she snuggled back into his chest.

From where they were, it was still possible to hear the Weird Sister's play. Hermione smiled into his chest as she recognised the song as did Severus, it was Coldpay – Yellow.

_Look at the stars  
Look how they shine for you  
And everything you do  
Yeah, they were all yellow  
_

Hermione lifted her head slightly so she was able to see the man who was holding her in his arms, his skin shone in the December moonlight and he looked extremely handsome in her eyes. She began to play with the buttons on his shirt, unsure of what else to do in this kind of situation. He let out a slight laugh at her actions, causing her to look up at him in shock. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," he said, leaning forward until his mouth was inches from hers. She could feel his warm breath on hear skin, and could not bear it any longer. She met his lips in a searing kiss, her hands found his face and his wound their way into his hair. They lasted like this for a long time, savouring their time together before pulling away for air. He leant down to her ear and whispered something he had been longing to say and she had, subconsciously, been wanting to hear from his lips: "You look beautiful, Hermione." The name sounded foreign coming from his lips, but he was sure that in time he would become used to it. In reply to this compliment, she captured his lips in a thankful kiss full of passion, and smiled into the kiss.

_I came along  
I wrote a song for you  
And all the things you do  
And it was called "Yellow"_

So then I took my turn  
Oh what a thing to have done  
And it was all "Yellow"

Your skin  
Oh yeah, your skin and bones  
Turn into something beautiful  
And you know,  
You know I love you so  
You know I love you so

_I swam across  
I jumped across for you  
Oh what a thing to do  
'Cause you were all "Yellow"_

I drew a line  
I drew a line for you  
Oh what a thing to do  
And it was all "Yellow"

Your skin  
Oh yeah your skin and bones  
Turn into something beautiful  
And you know  
For you I'd bleed myself dry  
For you I'd bleed myself dry

It's true, look how they shine for you  
Look how they shine for you  
Look how they shine for  
Look how they shine for you  
Look how they shine for you  
Look how they shine

Look at the stars  
Look how they shine for you  
And all the things that you do 

Dumbledore stood at the top of his tower looking out across the grounds. In the slight distance he saw two figures merged as one in the darkness. His plan had worked.

**A/N: So...I hope you all enjoyed it. I'm so proud of myself for the length! It's now Christmas Eve here (twenty past one in the morning) but I couldn't sleep because I wanted to get this finished and so many ideas came to my head. Have a great Christmas everybody, don't forget to review. **


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